the prettiest girl
by yrume
Summary: NaruSaku One-Shot - the one and only hetero story I've ever written and will ever write - Naruto has come back to the village after years, and meets Sakura again.
1. Chapter 1

There she is again. I don't even have to look up to know that it's her. I can tell by the way the door is opened. I lift my head, slowly, very slowly, just a little bit so that I can see her. I was right. It's her. Her in all her beauty. Her in all her elegance. She's standing in the door frame, looking around.

She's looking for someone she knows, someone who waits for her. I am waiting for her, but she doesn't know. She isn't looking for me. I know that, but yet I'm nervous. Her eyes meet mine for a second and I quickly look away, gripping the glass in front of me so no one can see my hands shaking.

"Hey, have you fallen asleep?", Kiba asks and jostles me, making me spill my beer. We're at a bar, him and Shino and me. Kiba asked me to come with them.

"Is something wrong?", he asks, his vivid dark orbs eyeing me suspiciously.

"No, it's nothing", I smile at him.

"You haven't said a word for at least five minutes", he frowns, "are you sure you're okay?"

Right. He must be confused. I usually talk and yell all the time.

"I'm fine", I say, "I'm just a bit tired."

It's true, I wanted to go to bed early today, but I just couldn't miss the chance to go out with two of my friends again. I've been alone for a long time. Well, not really alone, actually, I was with my sensei all the time, but it wasn't too much fun, if you know what I mean. Being trained by him isn't easy.

"You seem a little restless", Shino says. His voice is calm and low as usual, but he looks different, maybe because he isn't wearing his hood. However, he's still hiding. He's wearing a black polo-neck jersey with long sleeves, long jeans, and his sunglasses, although it's pretty hot and dark in here.

He leans back and hands me a cigarette.

"Just to calm down a bit."

I gladly accept his offer. I don't smoke very often, but it's good to calm down, as he said. He twirls a lighter between his fingers, so I quickly put the cigarette between my lips and let him light it.

"Why do I have to sit between you two, huh?", Kiba whines and holds his nose. He, in contrast to Shino, looks as usual, dressed in black shorts and a tight T-shirt, the symbol of his clan printed across his chest. The only weird thing is that Akamaru isn't with him. Dogs aren't allowed at bars like this, especially not as big ones as him.

My hands stop shaking when I draw the first drag. It's funny how things change. I always thought I would stay sober all my life to keep my body healthy and fit for battling, but here I am, sitting at a bar with a cigarette in my right and a glass of beer in my left hand, and I'm even enjoying it. The three of us aren't adults yet, but we're of age, allowed to do what we want, somehow. And what are we doing? Talking about former times, when we used to do silly things all day, playing tricks on people, skipping lessons, hanging out outside reading manga while the others were in class. At least Kiba and me. And Shikamaru, of course. I wonder where he is.


	2. Chapter 2

I turn my head and look at the door again, but she's gone. I know she hasn't left, though. I can hear her. She's talking to someone, somewhere behind me. Her voice makes a comfortable warmth spread throughout my body. It's high and clear, but yet strong. Her voice, I mean. She's talking quickly, sounding all excited and happy, although I can't understand what exactly she's saying.

"Hey", Kiba huffs, "are you listening to me?"

I can't listen to him right now. I'm highly concentrated, trying to figure out whom she's talking to. Hopefully to another girl. I know she knows a lot of people here, but I couldn't stand if she was talking to a guy.

My curiosity is taking control over my body, and I quickly turn my head, trying to catch sight of her in the crowd. There she is. She's standing next to a familiar blonde, giggling and placing her hand on her mouth. It's Ino. She's talking to Ino, after all. Thank God.

I can't manage to avert my eyes from her now. She's holding a glass in her hand, obviously some kind of cocktail with a pink straw in it, just like her hair. It's longer than before, her hair, I mean, almost reaching her shoulders. She's not wearing her forehead protector but a little ribbon, making her look all cute. She's wearing a mini dress, red with a white dragon on it. I've never seen her dressed like this before. It makes her more feminine, although she already is, of course, and very, very elegant.

"Are you staring at Sakura?", Kiba asks, exposing his sharp fangs when he smirks at me.

"No", I say quickly and stub out my cigarette, "I don't stare at people."

"Ha ha, stop lying", Kiba laughs and pokes my side, "you're blushing."

I am?

"Why don't you talk to her?"

OK, he got me. I can't lie to a high-ranked shinobi like him who has known me for years.

"I don't think she wants to."

"Baka", Kiba huffs, "I'm sure she wants to, she just hasn't seen you yet."

Yes, she has. Her eyes met mine a few minutes ago, I'm sure about that. She's ignoring me. She hates me.

"Sakura! Hey, Sakura-chan!"

Kiba suddenly raises to his feet and starts to jump up and down, waving at her like crazy. Has he lost his mind? He's making a complete fool of himself!

"Cut that out, baka!", I say, but it's too late. She has already caught sight of him. I wish the earth would open and swallow me up, or him, or both of us. You can't attract a girl's attention acting like that, even I know that. You have to wait until she comes over to you, not yell at her.

To my surprise, Sakura smiles and waves back a second later. I should have known it. She's different from other girls. That's why I love her.

"Hello, Kiba-kun! Nice to meet you here!"

Love her? Did I really say I love her? Or at least think?

"How are you doing, Sakura-chan?"

I never thought about love before. I knew I liked her. I always did. But I never called it love up to now.

"I'm fine, thanks. Just had a training session with Tsunade-sama, and now I'm trying to relax a little. And you?"

Oh my God, she's come over to us. She's standing next to Kiba, she's really standing there, just a few inches away from me.

"We've just met an old friend and decided to take him with us. He was feeling a bit lonely, you know."

What the heck is Kiba talking about? I'm not feeling lonely. Not at all. Why is he even talking to her? I wish I wouldn't have said anything. I wish I wouldn't have stared at her. Then he wouldn't have made her come over here and wouldn't be talking to her right now, making me all nervous again.

"Can I have another cigarette?", I ask Shino, but he doesn't react, he only smirks at me. Shino is smirking? What the hell is going on here?

"Naruto?"

I freeze when I feel her hand on my shoulder.

"Is that you, Naruto?"

My heart is racing when I turn around. For some reason I expect to be slapped across the face within the next second, but nothing happens. Her eyes don't sparkle with anger. She doesn't look pissed at all. She's smiling at me. Smiling!

"Haven't seen you in a while", she says, slightly blushing. She quickly crawls on a chair beside me, fiddling around with her straw. I can't believe she's sitting next to me.

"How long has it been?", she asks, "Three years? Four?"

She looks a bit confused. No, not confused, rather – worried.

"Four."

"That's been a long time, isn't it", she mumbles, "I bet you have improved a lot since we last met."

I have, but I'm sure she has, too.

"I'd love to talk to you", she suddenly says, "I'm curious as hell, but it's so loud in here, isn't it?"

I nod my head, unable to talk back.

"Do you want to go outside with me?", she asks, "It's pretty warm today, we could even sit down on the grass."

She doesn't wait for my answer but gets up, and without thinking, I follow her.

"It's weird to meet you here", she says, giving me a faint smile. Why is she that shy? I expected her to yell at me, or to ignore me, but in fact, she's talking to me in a very calm, friendly way. I'm sure my face is deep red up to now.

It's already dark, but not cold, so we sit down on the ground. She looks up to the sky, which is full of stars tonight.

"I'm glad you're back. I thought about you a lot."

She did? I can't believe my ears. I always thought she was glad that I was gone.

She looks into my eyes. Her own are sparkling with joy, indicating that she isn't lying to me, which feels good. Really, really good.

"We've been friends for about fifteen years now", she says, "do you remember when we first met?"

Of course I do. I could never forget that day.


	3. Chapter 3

_Sakura was sitting on a swing, looking to the ground, silent tears running down her cheeks. A bunch of other kids were standing around her, yelling at her._

"_Ha ha, you look like a sheep!"_

"_Bah, bah, pink sheep!"_

"_Sakura, can I use your hair for my new pullover?"_

_The little girl clenched her fists, but didn't say anything. What was she supposed to reply, anyway?_

_A while ago, everyone had made fun of her forehead. So she changed her hairstyle to cover it. But now, everyone would make fun of her because the hair fell into her eyes. As long as Ino was with her, everyone was friendly to her, but when she was without her friend, she was laughed at by the other children._

"_Hey, what are you doing here?", a voice Sakura didn't know suddenly asked. She lifted her head, trying to see who had come over to the playground. It was a small boy, probably as old as her, with spiky blond hair and big blue eyes._

"_We're watching the sheep", a girl giggled, pointing at Sakura. She wondered who the blond boy was. She had never seen him before._

"_Sheep?", he asked, "Which sheep?"_

"_Sakura's a sheep", the girl from before said, "look at her hair!"_

_The blond boy blinked and smiled._

"_Her hair's pretty."_

"_Nah, it's way too long, and the color is weird", another girl babbled, "and look at that silly ribbon! A sheep with a ribbon, bah, bah!"_

_The boy suddenly looked angry, crossing his arms in front of his chest and tapping his foot._

"_Sakura-chan is no sheep", he said, "she's pretty. It's not nice to make fun of her."_

"_Ha ha, you're in love with her", a small boy smirked, "you're in love with a sheep!"_

_The blond suddenly jumped forward and collared him, angrily staring into his eyes, and raised his hand._

"_I'll slap you if you call her a sheep one more time", he huffed, sounding like one of the adult shinobi. "And if you and your friends don't stop to make fun of her, I'll tell my big brother, and he'll come over and beat you up. All of you."_

_He let go of the other boy without slapping him. After a few seconds, he and the other kids started to wander away, slightly scared by the strange blond, who was keeping his eyes on them._

_Only when all of them had left the playground, he turned around to Sakura and smiled at her._

"_They won't make fun of you ever again", he said._

_Sakura wasn't sure if he was right. The kids had just been startled, but they were likely to come back in a few days. The blond boy wasn't that frightening, actually. He sat down on the swing next to her._

"_You don't have a brother, have you?", the pink haired girl asked shyly, wiping away her tears._

"_Nah", the blond chuckled, "I don't have any siblings. I'm an orphan, you know."_

_Sakura frowned. She had heard that word before, but she didn't remember what it meant._

"_I'm Sakura", she said quickly._

"_I know", the blond said, "I've seen you many times before, and I heard the other kids say your name. I'm Naruto."_

_Sakura gave him a faint smile, slightly blushing. Right, he had called her Sakura-chan some minutes before. And he had said that…_

"_Do you really think I'm pretty?", the girl asked, blushing even more._

"_Of course", Naruto smiled, "you're the prettiest girl of the playground!"_

_His voice sounded so sincere Sakura believed him at once. Her face flushed even more red, though. No one had ever called her pretty, only her parents. Even Ino would never say something like this, although she was her friend. But Naruto…_

_Sakura had never seen him before. Maybe he was new to the village. But yet he knew her name, and he thought that she was pretty, and he had scared away the other children without even punching them. He was really cool._

"_Thank you", Sakura said, shyly casting her eyes down._

"_What for?"_

_Naruto's big blue eyes gave her a quizzical look, causing her to laugh. He might be cool, but he was a little slow, obviously._

"_For helping me", the pink haired girl smiled, "people don't do that very often."_

"_That's because I like you", Naruto smiled back._

"_Are you really in love with me?", Sakura asked, out of the blue. She had just remembered the other kid's words, and now she wanted to know._

_The blond stopped swinging and looked at her, frowning._

"_Maaaybe", he drawled, a finger put to his mouth, as if thinking about it, "you're in love if you think someone is pretty, and if you want to be near them, and if you want to be their friend, right?"_

_Sakura hesitated, then slowly nodded her head. She had no idea what it meant, actually. She knew her parents loved her, but there was a difference between love someone and be in love with someone, even if she didn't exactly know why._

"_Then I'm in love with you", Naruto smiled and stopped swinging, looking into Sakura's green eyes. The little girl stretched out her hands towards him, her face flushed red again._

"_We can play together, then", she said, "if we're in love."_

_The blond jumped off the swing and grabbed her hand, happily dragging her along._

"_Fine", he said, "you're my girlfriend now, right? Then I will protect you from now on. If anyone makes fun of you ever again, just call me, and I'll kick them for you."_

_A smile appeared on Sakura's face when she was walking hand in hand with Naruto. It felt good to be in love, somehow._

I don't know what happened. We were just sitting next to each other, talking about that day back then, when we both were four or five years old, but now Sakura is lying in my arms, snuggling her head against my chest. She smells of cherries, sweet and fruity, and her body is warm and soft on my lap.

Sakura looks up to the sky once again, then suddenly bends her head and stares at me, her beautiful green eyes looking into mine. Her face is so close to mine I can barely breathe. My heart is racing when she moves closer, and I involuntarily close my eyes. I'm not ready for this, I'm not ready for this, I'm not…

I am. Kissed by her. Right now. In the moonlight.

Her lips feel soft and juicy and warm on mine, making a shiver run through my body. She slightly opens her mouth and so do I, our tongues carefully starting to move, to explore, to play with each other. It feels better, way better than anything else I've done so far. Because it's her. Her in all her beauty, in all her elegance.

Our kiss ends all too soon, but I know there are many, many more to follow.

"I've waited for this so long", Sakura says and nestles her head against my chest, looking up to the sky again, "I never thought you would come back after all what happened, but there you are."

Yes. There I am. Sitting on the grassy ground in the backyard of a bar and holding a girl in my arms. The prettiest girl of the playground.


End file.
